The Final Turnabout
by Macabre Beauty
Summary: Death, despair, doom. Just as everything seems to be getting better for the now re-instated ace attorney, Phoenix Wright will have to watch as his whole world comes tumbling. How long will it take for him to break? Or will Apollo be able to pick up the pieces before it is too late... No outright pairings, T but may change to M later, depending on how graphic I make some things.
1. Night-life

**Night-life**

* * *

He gazed down upon the Californian landscape. The blanket of darkness known as dusk had already enveloped the usually vibrant city. The street lights twinkled among the shadows, as if painting a picture of the night sky. From where the man was standing, the image could be deemed as serene, if it were not for the more pressing thoughts running through his mind.

Where as he merely stood there with the gushing wind pressing against his back - almost like it was trying to cause him to tumble over the banister - others were hurrying down the various streets in their cars longing to return home from a hard day at work. Young children were being tucked into bed and were having their doting parents read bed time stories to them.

Some of the streets down below would be filled with drunken laughter; others filled with people fearing the idea of crossing paths with those producing the hearty chortles. If some poor unfortunate had made such an encounter, there may have even been some spine-chilling screams mixed into the various night-time noises.

"To think that I would..."

"No, it's not like anybody would blame me..." The man was silent for a moment.

"Can I... Really go through with this?"

* * *

AU: So...My introduction.

Actual chapters will be longer than this, I promise. Want to know what the hell is going on here? Then read future chapters!

Next chapter will jump to another time but don't worry, I will return to this! Reviews would be appreciated, especially as this is my first fan fiction. Constructive criticism or praise will be excepted, "It's disgusting!" may not be viewed as highly if you can't exactly back up your point...

~ Macabre Beauty


	2. Beginning of the end

**Beginning of the end**

* * *

"..."

What's that muttering noise?

"..."

Ugh. With any luck it'll go away soon enough. I smother my head under an unused pillow, blocking out the sounds slightly and with any luck, I'll fall back to sleep.

"On the count of three, one...two..."

Not that I'm ever that lucky.

It suddenly clicks as to what the murmuring was about. "Three..."

"Wait, wait! I'm aw-"

"OBJECTION!"

Why am I always too late?

" APOLLO. NOT THIS EARLY." I shout back, his 'chords of steel' still rattling though my brain. I swear, if I ever find out that you can get lessons in how to keep your voice down, I'm signing this kid up. Price or no price. Well OK, maybe he can pay for it himself...

"It's 12pm! And Trucy yelled too!" My daughter merely gives him a look of innocence before retorting:  
"Well the difference is, Polly, that Daddy would never yell at his little girl, would you daddy?" That and you actually understand the meaning of 'volume control'... Agh, my head hurts...

"If you two don't mind, I'm going back to bed."  
"B-But Daddy! You can't go to bed yet!" No, of course I can't. That means a chance of sleeping through this han-

"Mr. Wright, we have a case you need to take. A murder case. The client is..." Well now that he's noticed that I'm glaring at him with all the hatred I can muster, hopefully he and Trucy will leave me alone.

...

Nope.

"But you've only just got your badge back! You need to take on as many cases as possible, show the crowd that you've still got your old tricks and even have some new ones in the line-up! You know you should never disappoint the audience and I'm pretty sure they don't like it when you don't show up..."

"Oh come on, I won that courtroom explosion case yesterday! Can't I have a day off?" I cry, replacing the pillow back onto my head. Trucy, you've seen me like this enough times to know why I don't want to get up. Please, take the hint before Apollo noti-  
"Mr. Wright, how much grape juice did you have last night?"

". . ."

He stares at me with an expression that practically screams 'I'm not budging until you confess to getting wasted'. He opens his mouth to say a not as silent statement.

That's the last thing I need right now.

"OK, OK! I had a bit to dr-"  
"A bit, Mr. Wright?"  
"All right, a lot. But it was to celebrate my first trial after getting my badge back! It was completely justified! And it's not like I was the_ only_ one drinking – you should have seen how much that yellow girl drank. What was her name again...? Katherine? Karen?"  
"Karina Hartvitski, defence attorney – passed the bar around 2 years ago. And that's no excuse. She's only 18 – that's not even legal! You should have acted like a responsible adult and stopped her."

"She's Russian, isn't she? It's legal there. And it's not like I knew how old she was." She seemed older than 18 when I was talking to her...

"You know I was thinking of possibly asking her to work here... Hey, wait a minute – if she's been an attorney for two years while you've only been in the business for one...Wouldn't that make her your superior? " I smirk at him.

"Wait, what? No! I've been here longer a-and I'm older than her! I would be HER superior!"  
"What does age have to do with it? You know I'm basically your boss." Trucy chimes in. I almost forgot she was there...  
"No you're n-"  
"Well it's certainly not the other way round; you know you're 4th in the pecking order of this agency, even without Ms. Hartvitski, right?" Is he counting on his fingers?

"You, me, Trucy... Mr. Wright, I think you've miscounted..."  
"Trucy's the boss." Said boss is putting on her largest grin thanks to that statement. "Next it's me, then Charley and you're at the bottom of the pile." I'm guessing from the look on his face that Apollo's forgotten who Ch- oh wait. No, no, he's realised.

"You've put _the plant_ ahead of me?" His reaction deserves a chuckle.  
"Why of course! You know he's the co-founded this place back when it started off as the Fey and co. law offices?" Messing with this kid is just so much fun. It never gets old.

"Anyway," You could have given me a little more time... "You're not getting out of taking this case, hangover or no hangover! If you're not going to take it, at least do something useful, like finding me a new mommy!" With the way you're acting, you don't need a 'mommy' – you practically are one!

"Fine, fine – you win. So what's happened?" Apollo clears his throat, having recovered from the realization that Charley the house plant has more overall respect than he does. "Yesterday morning-"  
"A body was discovered?" I muse. Because that was in no way predictable...  
"Have you started watching the news again, Daddy?"  
"No. It's just that I can count the number of non-murder cases I've taken on my left hand. If you don't count the De Masque case/cases, the answer is...none."

"Well this isn't any ordinary murder case – the victim, Mrs. Rita Mortise, is believed to be the fifth victim of that serial killer that's been on the news. The police think that they've caught the culprit and well...He's requested you. He rang at around 2am last night and since you were out cold, I decided to pick up instead."  
"Well surely you could take the case then?"  
"He requested you specifically. Apparently you're childhood friends? Does the name 'Larry Butz' ring a bell?"

...I hate you Larry.

* * *

AU: Whoop - a proper chapter! Thanks for the reviews guys! If there's anything you don't like, please say so so I can hopefully improve for next time? I was thinking of making this chapter a bit longer by putting in some details about the arrest and mentioning who the prosecutor is but I think I'll leave in some surprises~

Sixteen Vanilla beans, you made my day when I saw your review. I actually know the other two people but I don't think I know you (sorry if I'm mistaken) so a review from a stranger is lovely! It means I don't fail as a fanfic author! Especially since I'm actually a fan of your's, I simply hadn't made an account until a few days ago and haven't got around to following you~

Anyway, chapter three will hopefully be up before the new year, maybe a couple days afterwards~


	3. Reconciliation

**Reconciliation**

* * *

"I'M GONNA DIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIE!"

…

Yup, that's Larry all right.

"COME ON, JUST SLAP DOWN THAT GUILTY VERDICT ALREADY! JUST GIVE ME THE CHAIIIIIIIIR!"  
"Larry, the trial hasn't even started yet." I say nonchalantly as I walk in. Where as everybody's said that I've basically turned into some 'washed up old hobo' (as Maya put it) in the past eight years, this guy's barely changed at all: same haircut; same goatee; same goofy look on his face. The only thing that really strikes out as different is that outfit he's wearing.

"NICK, BUD- OUCH!" Did he just bang his head on the security screen? He's now got his head in his hands and looks like he's about to start crying in pain. I suppose I should just forget about the idea of him having grown up since I last saw him.

"Uncle Larry!" W-W-Wait – UNCLE?! Trucy skips over to our side of the security screen as I stand there, dazed.

"I thought you said you'd kept her away from most of your old friends?" A slightly confused yet curious Apollo questions whilst Trucy attempts to reassure Larry. Strange thing is, I'm asking myself the same thing.

"I thought so as well. I tried to distance myself from most of the people I used to know so that Kristoph wouldn't think of using them against me in any way. If I was going to introduce her to _anybody_ it certainly wouldn't be Larry! He'd go and let something slip to that guy in no time! How do they know each other?" Apollo shrugs his shoulders, as if I was asking him specifically.

"Oh hey, Nick!"  
"Larry, why does it sound like you know my daughter?"  
" Yeah, remember that one time when you kept rejecting my calls?"  
"That happened a lot. Be more specific."

"Well it was, like, years ago or something. Anyway, I tried looking for your office and kinda got lost. Then, I found Truce here!" 'Truce here' flashes a smile at me.  
"And being the good citizen that I am, I went over and asked him what the matter was 'cause he looked a bit down. Then we started talking and I found he was a friend of yours!"  
I sigh. "Trucy, didn't I talk to you about stranger danger?" She nods her head, nearly letting her hat drop off in the process. "Yeah – you said I should never go anywhere with a stranger. That's why when he asked me to take him to the agency, I said no."

"We've kept in contact via email though and at one point I told her to call me uncle!" Larry lowers his voice and looks at me. "Anyway, who's her mom? Didn't think it was like you to knock up some chick at 1-"  
"Larry, she's adopted."  
"Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh hhhhhhhhhh." I can't help but face palm at this. After showing how impressed I am with him, I turn to my daughter. "We're going to need to talk later. Don't make that face – you're not in any serious trouble. Just next time you meet up with an 'old friend' of mine, tell me as soon as possible, K?"  
"Well I meant to tell you but..."  
"But?"  
"I forgot." For several years? Really? Even she can't be that bad.

"That aside... What happened to get you i- Larry, no. No. Do not start cry- damn it Larry." That was all it took to set him off again.

"NICK! IT'S ALL OVER BUDDY, I-I-"  
"Umm, let's talk about something else, shall we?" suggests Trucy. I continue on with her idea as with any luck, it'll somehow ease him into the conversation about the night of the murder. "Can I just ask... _Why _exactly are you wearing a giant sandwich?" This seems to have calmed him down. For the most part, at least. He's still sniffling a bit though.

"O-Oh, this? It's part of my new j-job. I'm working at the local sandwich shop and they wanted me to hand out flyers! You s-see, the owner's got this mega hot dau-"  
"Okaaay, I think we get the picture..." Figures.

Apollo leans over to me, his mouth near my right ear and his hand lingering in front. With a hushed tone, he whispers: "Just who is this nut job, Mr. Wright? I mean, I know he said you two were friends but he's a bit... you know..." He moved away slightly and raised his hand towards the side of his head before making circular motions with his index finger. "I suppose there's no chance of convincing you to take the case instead then, is there?" He'd already began shaking his head before I'd even finished.

"What was that?" Apollo jumps, scared that Larry had heard him.  
"Nothing, nothing. So, were you working on the 25th of January?" This being the night of the crime, of course. It's unlikely that his shift was late enough to offer an alibi for the murder however, it might help in giving some insight into what happened. He cocks his head to the side and looks towards the ceiling, suggesting that he's trying to think back to that day. "Well, I was kinda on and off working."  
"What do you mean 'on and off'? You weren't skipping work, were you?"  
"No! Yes! Sort of! You see, I was there at the beginning, honest! Just, I _really _wanted a break so I just walked off!"

"You...walked off?" I guess I should feel sorry for Apollo – after all, he's never met Larry.

"Uh huh. I mean, there's no problem if I was gone for an hour or two, right? It's not like handing out flyers was gonna hurt anyone."  
"Out of curiosity, why do you think you keep getting fir..." Trucy's tugging the sleeve of my jacket. Has she noticed something? I turn to look at Apollo, who at that moment is staring intensely at our client.

"Woah dude... What's with that face? Have I got something on me?"

"Mr. Butz, since we started talking about your job you've been moving your thumb around on your left cheek. It kinda gives me the feeling you've failed to mention something. Did you hurt yourself there? Banged into something?"

"I-I hit my face on the side of the door!"  
"...OK then. Well can you tell us where you went after you abandoned your job?"  
"I went home! What's it to you anyway?! I mean, I came back later anyway!"

And with that statement, my surroundings turn black; the sound of chains rattling echoes throughout the room and 2 psyche-locks manifest in front of my childhood friend.

* * *

AN: Sorry I suggested something coming up before New Years'. It was kinda stupid considering presents and stuff~

I was going to keep writing until I introduced the prosecutor but that could take a while and I'm trying to make the chapters not too long so: 1. I don't get lazy and procrastinate writing them, 2. You guys don't get scared off by big blocks of text and 3. This way they'll be released semi-regularly with any luck instead of once every month or two!

Speaking of prosecutors, two of you seem to want Edgey to be up against Nick here...

You know, when I was originally planning this fic, he was meant to be the prosecutor for this case. I changed my mind just as I was writing the previous chapter. Does that make me predictable considering he was my original plan? Don't worry, there are three cases in total - he may still show up! Maybe.

Anyway, thanks for the encouragement guys and I hope you enjoy!


	4. Waiting

**Waiting**

The room was almost entirely silent, save from the ticking of the clock, the splashing of the raindrops as they hit the ground outside and the footsteps of the young man who was pacing across the room that filled the void. The older male kept his eyes glued to him, his chin resting upon his right palm with an amused grin plastered across his face. To him, the frantic man's worry was unfounded and thus he found it proper to show just how ridiculous said man looked in his eyes at that moment in time.

He then turned to look outside the office window. It was really chucking it down at this point. The man's thoughts drifted to whichever poor souls were stuck out there in that weather; they would surely be completely drenched by the time they reached their destination. He turned his attention back to the shorter man who was still pacing across the room, as if that would solve whatever crisis he believed to be taking place at that time. The younger male turned to scowl at him when he noticed the other man's amusement.

"How can you just sit there with that silly smile on your face? There could be something seriously wrong and you're just sitting there chuckling away to yourself!"  
"Don't you think you might be ov-"

It was then that the doorbell rang. It was then that a person with important news was about to be invited inside.  
It was then that the young man's life would be forever changed.

* * *

AN: I am SO sorry for not updating! I won't make too many excuses except that 7 exams tends to make a person lazy. Yes, I am confessing that I was lazy. If in future I don't get off my bum and you think that I'm being sluggish again, feel free to pm me. No, seriously: do it. PM's telling me to hurry up will actually motivate me to write. I won't feel offended so pm me even if you're getting impatient after just a week or something! A day, an hour, whatever!

...OK, maybe not after an hour of a new chapter coming up.

Anyway, this wasn't the chapter I was planning to put up. The good thing about how I'm handling this fic is that I can upload shorter chapters that aren't in the current timeline so as to release something. I had started the chapter I wanted to put up but I would probably have kept procrastinating and then you guys would be waiting longer. Reviews (if you guys don't punish me for the slow update) will motivate me to write and now you have something for until I finish the next chapter.

Thanks for reading!


	5. Familiar faces

**Familiar faces**

* * *

"Larry, what are you hiding?"

When something smells, it's usually the Butz. I stare at the man I've known since we were both children, watching as his expression turns more manic; distraught. Apollo keeps firing questions at the older man to no avail – after all, mere interrogation won't be able to unravel the secret behind those cold, hard locks. I contemplate presenting the magatama Maya gave to me nine years ago. He's beginning to work up a sweat. It looks almost as if he's about to crack any second now.

"Drop it, Polly."  
"But Mr. Wright, I'm almost there! Trust me, he'll spill everything!" I give him a stern look before turning back to Larry. After all, the kid doesn't have a clue about psyche-locks and it's not as if I can make any progress either; I haven't even gathered any evidence yet so an attempt at breaking those locks would be futile. And anyway, it'll probably just make my headache worse...

"Y-Yeah! Drop it, Polly!"  
"Larry, shut up." He crosses his arms and pouts, just as a small child would.

What should we do? Further questioning will probably lead to nothing other than a waste of time considering who our client is. The scene of the crime would be a good place to start but considering Larry's reluctant to talk about his whereabouts when he was ditching work...

"Apollo," The boy turns to look at me again. "Do you think you could go check out the crime scene? Trucy can come along if she wants. Larry, mind giving us the addresses of your workplace and Mrs. Mortise's apartment?" If I remember correctly, Apollo mentioned that the scene of the crime was where the victim lived, like all of the other killings by this guy.

"Sure thing buddy." He cocks his head to the side and begins counting on his fingers to work out the apartment number. Do they really think this idiot could have committed all of those murders? And on top of that, got away with until now?

"I presume you're going to where Mr. Butz works?" I nod, holding in a laugh from the idea of Larry being referred to so formally. "I'd have thought you'd prefer Trucy going with you then. You know, in case the body's still there and all."

"I'm not a little kid Polly! And besides, I've seen a body before! Remember the Gavinner's concert?" She'd interrupted the kid before he'd even finished talking.

"You heard her." It isn't that I'm relaxed when it came to Trucy's activities – on the contrary, I always want to know at the very least who she's with – but rather that I remember Ema tagging along with me on her sister's case when she was the same age as my daughter is now. Also, she has a much smaller record of getting in trouble than Maya did...Not that that's very hard all things considered. Apollo will make sure she's fine, that I'm sure of.

We depart the building after saying our goodbyes to Larry, assuring him we'd be back soon bearing good news. Well, the other two did – where the Butz is concerned I can never be so optimistic. Apollo leaves in his car with Trucy (lucky guy, actually having the brains to get a license) whilst I begin walking to the crime scene; it's in the opposite direction to the Mortise residence and not that far away so I told Apollo to leave without me. I'll probably need a lift back later though but my cell's charged so that shouldn't be an issue.

I wonder what happened to make Larry a suspect... If it were a single murder I'd understand considering the messes he gets into but serial? Really? Do they have some form of evidence on every single murder or is it simply a case of a similar M.O and thus the assumption that the cases are related?

As I walk up to the sandwich shop where Larry was meant to be working when the crime took a place, I hear a familiar voice from within the venue crying out in despair, as if the voice's owner was being tortured or had just be informed of a loved one's death.

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU'RE OUT OF BURGERS?!"

* * *

...

"I'm guessing the victim lived where all of that crime scene tape is, right?" No Trucy, it's there for decoration.

"Well it's the right address so I'd guess so." I wouldn't be surprised if Mr. Wright's friend had actually got it wrong since he didn't seem to be the brightest crayon in the colouring box when we were talking to him but at least the presence of the police cleared up that issue. "OK Trucy, act natural, we want them to let us in to the crime scene, w-"

"I can hear every word you're saying."

Trucy and I turn on out heels to find that a petite woman not much taller than Trucy was standing behind us. She looks like some sort of princess...She's wearing clothes of a quality I would never be able to save up for adorned with precious blue gems; even her hair looks expensive what with being the same colour as platinum! She must be somebody important with that kind of appearance.

Trucy bounds up to her after the initial awe had settled in. "You're not going to tell the guys investigating are you?"

"If I were you, I'd be more worried about my decision to let you in. I am the prosecutor on this case after all." This girl? A prosecutor?

My partner puts on her best 'puppy-dog' eyes look in the hopes to get Mr. Wright future courtroom opponent to bend to our will, not that I think it'll work if she was planning to refuse us entry. "We won't get in the way, honest! Pretty please Ms..."

"Von Karma."

* * *

A/N:

I'm SO sorry for the long update time. I will make no excuses...Weird thing is that I'm writing now when I'm supposed to be studying for exams :/

I'm guessing I've lost all the story followers...Heh heh...

Seriously, in future bug me if you're waiting desperatley for an update. It will motivate me to write.

Anyway, opinions on this turn of events?

~ Macabre "never updates" Beauty

P.S. Chapter 2 involves me referencing Athena Cykes but obviously all my info's wrong as I had little to work with at the time. Should I edit the chapter or leave it and assume people still know who I'm talking about/why the mistakes are there?


End file.
